


Interrupted Interlude

by HunnybadgerV



Series: Born To Ride [10]
Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect - Various Authors, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Smut, Oral Sex, Romantic Gestures, Stripping, Surprises
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-04-20 13:00:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21977788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HunnybadgerV/pseuds/HunnybadgerV
Summary: Joker has a mandate—too keep an eye on Shepard’s stress level. So, he has an idea how to accomplish just that. If he can get her to step away from work long enough.
Relationships: Jeff "Joker" Moreau/Female Shepard, Jeff "Joker" Moreau/Shepard
Series: Born To Ride [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/934683
Comments: 11
Kudos: 40





	Interrupted Interlude

**Author's Note:**

> Clearly, I am shipping trash. And for some reason, when I’m trying to fall back into writing I have to write smut. But it is not entirely my own fault because this particular piece was inspired by a photo manip that @alyssalenko posted, both the NSFW and the slightly safer for work versions of the image.

Candles flickered off the polished hull panels in bright dancing amorphous shapes in golds and oranges that lent to the mystery and coziness of the commander’s roomy quarters. The space smelled of warm spices, which Joker had to attribute to the skill of the candlemaker he and Shepard happened across months earlier in one of the refugee bays on the Citadel. That day, she’d come back to the Normandy with an assortment of them in a rainbow of colors, with scents ranging from berries to smoke. The ones he’d procured were all a deep red and smelled like the tea Leah always kept on hand for when she just wanted to unwind.

And that’s exactly what he wanted to incite tonight. Joker wanted to help Shepard unwind some of the tension that was pushing her body and mind to the edge. He wanted to wipe the war, the lives in the balance, the reapers, Earth, all of it from every inch of her mind. Even if it only lasted for thirty minutes it would be enough, or at least that’s what he hoped.

With the last candle lit, he toggled the room’s dim lights down, then finally decided off would be best. Bright beacons lined a path to the bed and cast a vibrant glow that could even keep him from breaking a leg on the way. Unbuttoning his shirt, he almost talked himself out of it, but when his omni-tool chimed with a programmed tone all his hesitation fled.

They’d planned this. _Well_, he reminded himself, they had planned to spend the night shift together—alone. He’d messaged her when he got to her quarters; she’d responded telling him that she needed ten more minutes. That timer had long since come and gone, but that wasn’t a surprise. Whenever she missed their “dates” by longer than she intended, she always messaged him when she left the war room.

If anyone could understand it, Joker did. He and Leah Shepard were cut from the same cloth—focused, dedicated, loyal. The qualities that helped them excel in the service tied them to one another tightly as well.

The chime had set Joker’s heart racing and he knew the timer was counting down. If he wanted to surprise her, he’d have to be quick. Joker rushed out of his clothes, kicking them under the edge of the bed, so as not to throw off the warm, carefree mood he tried so hard to set. He threw the pillows into the center of the bed against the headboard, then climbed atop the covers and propped himself in a relaxed pose. With one knee bent, he leaned back into the pillows and laced his fingers behind his head. There he lay naked as the day he was born save for the hat he almost never took off.

As a last thought, he tightened his stomach muscles just a touch to try and show off the tone of his abs. Then he waited. One minute. Two. Low music pulsed through the room. It wasn’t loud enough to hear any lyrics if there were any, it was just there to further his aims—Shepard’s relaxation.

When the door swished open, his abs clinched again in anticipation.

“Lights,” a voice called. A modulated voice. The wrong voice.

Joker had a split second to register it before he was blinded by the bright lights. Eyes clinched shut he managed to find the wherewithal to yank his hat off and cover himself, not that it would do much to make his presence in Shepard’s quarters seem innocent in the least.

“Joker!” Tali chirped. The surprise was noticeable even through the modulation.

“Yep,” he said with a wince as he blinked slowly in the light.

Neither of them had anything else to say. As his eyes got used to the brightness again, he wondered if she might be blushing in her suit. He certainly must be, he was sure.

“Was expecting Shepard.”

“Clearly,” she squeaked.

Silence bloomed once more. Finally, her head turned away from the sight of him.

“She sent me up for a data pad,” the quarian explained.

Joker leaned a little, clinching his hat over his groin with one hand while the other gestured toward the commander’s desk. “Probably over there in the pile of them.” The desk tended to look like a war zone of tech that Leah was repairing, tweaking, overclocking, or just perusing.

“Did you—” That was the voice Joker had been waiting for when Tali’d blinded him. Green eyes widened as she rounded the corner and froze. “Shit!”

Joker just nodded. “I swear, honey, it’s not what it looks like.”

Tali and Leah burst into bright laughter. “It looks like you didn’t read my message,” Leah said, recovering faster than the other two of them.

“So, that wasn’t the usual _‘sorry, lost track of time’_ message?”

She shook her head grinning, as she weeded through one of the piles on her desk. “It was _not_.”

Joker shrugged. “Well, don’t I feel sheepish?”

Shepard chuckled again, a shy, quiet sound. Her red cheeks shone in the bright light and when her green eyes met his, the twinkle he discovered there made him mirror the smile on her lips. Leah hurried over to the desk and shifted through the devices. Her countenance shifted somewhat when she handed a device to Tali. “Give this to the admirals. Have them make any notes to the original and I’ll look it over once they’re finished.”

“Will do, Shepard.” Tali nodded once, then her head turned slightly toward the pilot sprawled in the commander’s bed. “I’ll make your apologies.”

“Thanks,” Leah said with a hint of a laugh in her voice as Tali’zorah turned to leave.

Joker slipped his free hand behind his head and leaned back some, relaxing a bit, once the door slid closed. He watched Leah round the edge of the desk. Then she stopped, resting her shoulder against the wall.

“This was certainly a surprise,” she said. Her words slow as her eyes took in the scene in far too bright a light. “I mean finding my boyfriend naked with my best friend.”

Joker snorted.

“Not what I was expecting _at all_.” The smile she wore widened and lit her eyes, offset by the remnants of the blush on her cheeks

“Well, you know me. I like to keep you on your toes,” Joker replied with a silly, playful tone.

“Hmm.” She nodded slowly, but not as slow as she walked.

_Christ, get the hell over here already_, he thought. “Got to keep your mind sharp.”

“Oh, is that the reason?”

“Something like that.” He smirked at her as she finally perched on the edge of the bed. The hand behind his head moved to her cheek; his fingertips brushed along the line of her jaw in an effort to coax her lips toward his.

“Not sure I believe that.”

“Calling me a liar, Shepard?”

“Not sure I’d be that harsh.” The tip of her nose brushed against his. “But you do have a tendency to be full of shit.”

“I’m hurt,” he growled at her.

“Maybe this will help.” Her lips brushed his softly. It was a fleeting tease of a kiss.

“Nope.” His fingers slipped behind her neck.

She did it again, only with a scant bit more pressure—not nearly enough. His thumb brushed over her ear and he shook his head. This time when she moved, he did, too. Tightening his grip, he held her close and kissed her hard. It was a game they both knew all the rules to. When his lips parted, hers responded in kind, inviting his tongue into her mouth. Her hand brushed his bare ribs as she leaned against him more fully. The fabric of her uniform scratched at his bare skin, but the warmth of it bore a wholly different temptation.

When the kiss broke, she rested her forehead against his as she caught her breath. “You really need to read your messages,” she lectured in a heady voice.

“I don’t know. I think Tali walking in on me naked in your bed might be the only reason I’m not sitting here by myself,” he countered.

She pulled away a little. “I would have been two more minutes. Tops,” she insisted.

Joker just laughed.

“I mean it.” She sat up a little straighter. “Believe me. I know how long two minutes is.”

“Maybe when you’re being shot at and need an exfil.”

Her jaw dropped, and Joker couldn’t help but laugh.

His fingers traced down her arm. “It’s fine, Leah. Well, maybe not me flashing Tali, but … I don’t care if I have to wait for you two minutes or twenty. As long as you show up. That’s the important part,” he said, his tone turning from playful to serious, as he took her hand and raised it to his lips, to press a kiss to the inside of her wrist.

Shepard closed the distance again. “You shouldn’t have to wait.”

“In a perfect world, maybe. But this is the one we’ve got; the one where I’ve got you.”

This time her lips crashed against his. Her body followed suit more gently and he folded her up in his arms as she kissed him back into the pillows. Her chest shifted against his, but with her still clothed she wouldn’t get the kind of charge she usually got out of the motion. Her tongue dove into his mouth with fervor, like she could somehow steal time from the universe with each lunge past his lips.

She didn’t so much break the kiss as slide it to the corner of his mouth, then his jaw, and down his neck. Leah took her time and Joker savored the warmth of her mouth, the little flicks of her tongue which left a spot of cold on his bare skin, and the quick, careful nips she gave his skin. His hands roamed her body, tugging at buttons and straps here and there in a futile effort to bare more than a modicum of freckled skin. Meanwhile, her lips had burned a trail down his neck, along the length of one of his collar bones, and inched down along the tract of brown hair that would lead her right to his … hat.

As she crept away, Joker just watched the path of her departure. Bright green eyes flashed up at him from time to time, twinkling with playful mirth. She leaned up enough to look down at the navy blue cap then back up at him. He smiled back at her and tilted his head.

“It was the first thing that came to mind,” he explained.

She chuckled, sitting up. She snatched the cap and pulled it on over her red hair. Her other hand teased a light touch along the length of his cock.

“Looks better on me,” he told her.

“Oh, you think so?”

“Well.” He held his arms out and cocked his head to the side, like that was all the explanation it would take.

That’s when she flipped the tables on him. She took a step back and started to peel herself out of her uniform. Her hips swayed to the soft beat playing beneath the sound of his heart throbbing in his ears. Joker stared, transfixed. By the time she got to her underwear he was willing to agree that the cap looked far better on her, but far be it from him to interrupt.

She turned her back on him, pulling off her bra and shimmying out of her panties. She tugged the tie out of her hair and took his cap off. When she turned around again, the hat was strategically placed over the triangle of red curls between her legs. Her other arm cradled and covered her breasts with a touch of modesty.

“What about now?” she asked, standing at the foot of the bed.

“Yeah, you win,” he agreed.

With a laugh, she preened at him to show off her prize. Her victory lap took around the coffee table and back to the edge of the bed. Her gaze passed over him so heavily his mind almost convinced him he could feel it. The hunger in her eyes called to something in him and as if responding to some sort of call in her gaze, blood rushed toward his groin. One knee pressed into the mattress and she leaned forward. Crawling toward him and then along the length of his legs, she dropped soft kisses at his ankles and on his shins. Reaching his knees, she slipped her hands between them which encouraged him to part his legs to accommodate her approach and her attentions.

Wet kisses fell atop and on the inside of his thighs. Each inch of her approach brought a new pulse in his groin until his cock ached and throbbed from the lack of direct attention. Leah pushed his knee out a little more and she nestled her face between his legs. Her tongue traced a long line from his balls to the tip of his cock before it curled back into her mouth.

Joker could only stare back at her, while his cock seeped onto his stomach. When she took him in hand, giving him a slow pump, he could only think about the heat of her mouth and how much he wanted to feel it around him.

“Fuck,” he breathed when her head dropped.

Leah didn’t tease him this time, like she tended to do. And there was something insanely hot about the fact that she was wearing his hat while she sucked his dick. His hands tightened in the blanket rather than risk dislodging it. The flash of her wild green gaze from time to time, only fueled the fire burning in him. A knot twisted in his gut when her tongue twirled around the tip before she pushed lower in pace with her hand on his shaft. When two fingers found a home just beneath his balls, his head fell back in the pillows with a loud growl.

His hips shifted with her, the fervor intensifying the closer he got. “Fuck, Leah. I’m close,” he warned in a ragged tone. It was rare anymore that the warning pulled her away from him, but he offered it all the same. “Ah, fuck.” His grip on the sheets tightened as her hands and mouth worked him to that precipice. He cursed again his hips pumping upward as he came; she swallowed without hesitation.

She rested on his legs, dotting his waist and the tops of his thighs with little kisses. Then she shifted and knelt above him, reaching for his hat.

Joker shook his head. “Leave it on.”

“Really?” Leah asked.

“You won, right?”

She chuckled. “I did. Do I get a prize?”

His grin widened and he sat up and grabbed her face with both hands. “Oh yeah.” He pulled her mouth to his for a long, slow, deep kiss. “But first, I need to taste you.” Even he could hear the hint of desperation at the edge of his voice.

Joker pushed the pillows aside and laid back down, then crooked a finger at her. She only hesitated for a moment. He didn’t understand why sitting on his face still inspired hesitation in her; she didn’t balk at any other way he went down on her, but for some reason this always put her on edge. When her left leg settled against his shoulder, Jeff pulled his hands down her back while planting kisses on the insides of her thighs. Eventually, she settled into it. The soft giggles from his beard made him grin against her skin. His hands slid down her back and wrapped around her hips to pull her closer.

With a tilt of his chin, his tongue teased past fiery red curls and flicked against moist pink flesh. His grip tightened and he licked again, savoring her. Then pressed his tongue into her. She settled against him a little more with each pass, but would try to inch away when he sucked her clit into his mouth. It was a fascinating game; one he could control as much or as little as he wanted depending on his grip on her hips.

And the sight she made, kneeling above him with her chin resting on her chest, it was inspirational. Her eyes slipped closed on a moan inspired by the twirl of his tongue. Eventually, he knew that he’d find the combination that would have her grinding against his face desperate for her release, but he wasn’t in a rush.

No matter how shy she started, he’d always get her to that point. The first sign was always the same, she’d look down at him with her lips parted by breathy sighs. He stared up the landscape of her body, reading various signs. Goosebumps when his nails scrapped down her back. A sharp whine when he pinched and pulled at one hard nipple as he sucked on her clit and grazed it with his teeth.

Once her hands pressed into his short hair, he knew she was close. He dipped his tongue into her again in search of her musky nectar. His tongue wriggled toward her clit with a flick and he felt her rock against him fully trying to get more friction against the swollen nub.

“Jeff,” she exhaled. Leah leaned over him, at least half her weight on her hands. “I need more.”

That needy tone told him as much as every other sign around him. She was on the edge and he was fucking hard again.

With more dexterity than anyone might ever accuse him of, Jeff shifted upward. Leah moved in tandem, both of them knowing exactly what the other wanted. He grabbed himself and when her hips hovered over his, he guided her onto his cock. She sank down with a sigh before covering his body with her own.

Joker kissed his way along her neck, nuzzling and nipping at the thin skin until Leah offered up her lips. He let her control their tempo, but he met her rock for rock and kiss for kiss. His hands rested on top of her thighs, when she sat up.

Her pale skin flushed red to pink, down her chest in patches. Perky rose-colored nipples strained in the spice-touched air. Her hand covered one of his and guided it between them. “Touch me,” she told him.

“You sure?” Joker wouldn’t deny her, even if he could.

“Jeff.” That breathy, hungry tone told him so much.

He flipped his hand over and pressed his fingers where she ground against him. Her clit rolled against the pads of his middle and index fingers as she rode him. His other hand tightened on her hip as he watched her hands cup and squeeze her breasts. With a nipple pinched in hand, she finally came apart. The shift of her hips turned wild and dramatic. She fell forward, leaning on her hand. Joker pressed his fingers against her harder as he fucked up into her frenzy, savoring every second of her bliss.

He wanted to hold on. Wanted to outlast her, but the clench of her body and the intensity of her orgasm combined with the way she rode him when she came dragged him along with her.

His other hand tightened around her hip as he slammed into her, burying himself as deep as he could manage. Leah didn’t still, and Joker hadn’t moved. The quiver in her muscles told him, her orgasm lingered. As they’d discovered, if he kept touching her, she might just come again.

Sitting up, Jeff wrapped his arm around her and dragged her to one side and settled her on her back as he settled between her legs. His fingers worked against her, slipping into her once his cock softened enough to slip out of her. As he nipped at her breasts, she crooned out his name again. “Please, Jeff! Yes, yes, yes! Don’t stop. Please!”

Her hips pumped beneath him as he kissed her hard and she came again all over his hand. This time when the sensation started to subside, her hand wrapped around his wrist and guided it away from her core. He wrapped his arms around her, and she did the same as the two of them kissed languidly.

Naked in the bed together, he knew that at least for this moment the war and all it entailed was far from her mind. Right there, right then, it was just the two of them.

“Lights,” he said as she draped her arms around him.

As if for the first time, she turned her head and looked around them. “Wow.”

“You like?” He dotted a kiss just beneath her ear.

“You went all out.”

He pressed a firmer kiss slightly lower down her neck.

She turned her head toward him, and her lips found his. The two of them shifted, kissing languidly as they settled into a comfy, post-coital snuggle. She leaned up and put his hat back on him. “Jeff, you are amazing.”

“Oh, I know, but don’t spread it around. Don’t want people getting the wrong idea.”

Thankfully, she laughed. It was the most amazing and beautiful sound he’d heard in days. It was carefree and light. Exactly what he’d aimed for.

“I love you, Jeff.” Leah’s fingers teased in his beard as her nose nuzzled his. “So, fucking much.” She kissed him before he could return the sentiment, so he poured everything he could into it. Pulling her close, he refused to let her pull away from him until he was sure she knew—until she knew he loved her, too.


End file.
